Ethics Bob

It’s always upsetting when one of your heroes turns out to be an unethical creep. I was sick when I learned—for certain—that Bill Clinton had lied to me on national TV, sad when I learned that my Dodger hero, Manny Ramirez, had used banned substances, and devastated when my biggest hero of all. Greg Mortensen (of Three Cups of Tea fame) had not really built girls schools in Taliban country and had in fact stolen millions from his non-profit.

Still, I’m not getting used to my heroes falling. Not even after the latest, Joe Scarborough, conservative ex-congressman (R-FL) and host of the fun morning political conversation, Morning Joe.

I posted yesterday about how Joe and his co-host, Mika Brzezinski, had goaded and cajoled Mark Halperin into expressing his honest opinion of President Obama’s performance at his press conference Wednesday. They assured him that any off-color remark would be bleeped by way of a seven-second delay. When the show’s producer pressed the wrong button, Halperin’s opinion, “I thought he was kind of a dick,” went out into the ether for all to hear. More giggles from Mika and Joe, then a heartbroken apology from Halperin, then Halperin was “suspended indefinitely.”

In urging him on, Scarborough had promised, “You fall down I’m going to catch you.” But he didn’t catch him. Not a word protesting the suspension or owning up to his responsibility. (more…)